Joanna swirled her drink so the ice cubes clinked, a sound that reminded her of summer barbecues and weddings. Of Luke, because he’d always been with her at those things.

“I’m too aware of the bigger picture now. All the people who have to wait for help, the ones who don’t get it at all. Turns out I’m the kind of person who can help someone who’s sitting in front of me, but not the kind who can make important decisions about—”

“Impossible decisions,” he said. “Seems to me?”

Joanna paused for a moment. She thought of the medical student who’d reached the limit of what he could cope with alone. The lecturer who’d talked him down, her own brilliant staff stepping in afterward. The inquiry that had been launched and the meetings she’d had to manage while all she’d wanted was to talk to that student herself.

She didn’t tell the barman any of this. But she did talk more generally about her job—the most she’d spoken about herself in months. At intervals she thought, What are you doing? Shut up! But she couldn’t once she’d started. There was something in his manner that invited confidence—an attentiveness, a stillness—as the pub got even quieter and its small windows darkened.

He kept his word, refusing to serve her a third rum. The second had seemed stronger, though, bringing a welcome anesthesia to her brain. When she realized they’d reached closing time, and that her tongue felt almost tender from oversharing, she snapped back to herself. He flicked on the lights and she was suddenly sober and exposed.

“Get some sleep,” he said as she left. “Tomorrow’s a new day.”

It was what her mum used to say when Joanna was upset. Maybe she had told the barman that during the course of their conversation and he was simply echoing it now? She murmured it as she made her way home through the dark. The streets were deserted and she kept jumping at shadows and sounds. More than once, she was convinced she heard footsteps behind her, but each time she turned, there was nobody there. She hugged her elbows and walked quickly, wishing she’d left the lights on in her empty house.

2.

Leah

The final stretch of Leah’s journey had to be taken by boat. Small ferries, exclusive to guests of Il Mandarino Luxury Holiday Village, departed every hour from “the dock with the golden railings.” The smartest, shiniest dock on this part of Lake Garda.